CORE HOURS IN CONTRACT

[robnoonie]

Hi all,

Starting a job as a postie in a couple of days the job advertised was 30hrs a week 8am to 2pm 5 days a week.

Just received my contract and it says core hours of work are 6am to 10pm Monday to Sunday is this in every new postie contract? Does this just mean this is the earliest you can start and latest you can finish when you do any overtime?

Just surprised it doesn't say anything about working 8am to 2pm in my contract.

Thanks
Rob

[SMS1969]

You will be working at least 40 hours a week, at anytime between 6am to 10pm. I doubt that you will be out that late, but the job is certainly heading that way, particularly when more later parcels start to arrive.You won’t be just working between 8am and 2pm. These are the new contracts that all newcomers in delivery have.

[Jen1]

It’s highly unlikely that you will be working 8am til 2pm

We currently don’t finish until 2.40pm and we’re one of the earlier finishing offices and in March that is moving back an hour so it’ll be 3.40pm finish time

We’ve only had one new starter in our office (that I know of) and his hours are Wednesday to Sunday 1.30pm to 7.30pm every week

I can’t really answer you with certainty as it’s all a bit uncertain at Royal Mail at the moment

There are lots of people leaving and they’re struggling to recruit people on the new contracts as nobody wants to work every Saturday and Sunday and most people don’t want to finish work as late as 7.30pm(earliest)

So basically they’re putting you on as broad a contract as they can so they can move you around depending on how things shape up

I advise you to keep a copy of the advert for the job and hours you applied for, I don’t know how much good it’ll do you but it might be useful later on if they try to drastically change your hours

Good luck with it all

[Basildon Bond]

I advise you to keep a copy of the advert for the job and hours you applied for, I don’t know how much good it’ll do you but it might be useful later on if they try to drastically change your hours

Remember though that the advert can say one thing but if you sign up it is the contract that you have agreed to so that's the times you could be called on to work.

Totally agree to the point that RM don't know what they may need from you so they keep the times as wide as possible. They may need you in early to prep a duty (letters and packets) or then again they may need you to run around in the evening with late arrival tracked items and drop them off. Or both.

[robnoonie]

Thank for the replies another thing I have just noticed which concerns me in my contract which was not in the job description is the following

9.1 Subject to Clause 9.2 of this statement, your weekly hours of work will be 30.00 (excluding meal breaks). It is anticipated that Royal Mail will move to a Seasonal Hours ("SH") and / or Yearly Flexible Hours ("YFH") system at which point these terms and conditions will be varied and your annual hours of work will be 2080 (pro rata for part time excluding meal breaks). By signing this contract you are also agreeing to the change from weekly hours to a SH and/ or YFH working basis when that change is introduced. We will give you at least one months' notice of a change to Seasonal Hours and/ or Yearly Flexible Hours.

I think this basically means they can work you silly hours during busy periods and not pay you overtime for it and during quiet periods you could just be doing 4hrs a day or so.

[guardianangel]

Hi all,

Starting a job as a postie in a couple of days the job advertised was 30hrs a week 8am to 2pm 5 days a week.

Just received my contract and it says core hours of work are 6am to 10pm Monday to Sunday is this in every new postie contract? Does this just mean this is the earliest you can start and latest you can finish when you do any overtime?

Just surprised it doesn't say anything about working 8am to 2pm in my contract.

Thanks
Rob

I wouldnt even bother starting ,you will be at the beck and call of royal mail and never know what hours your working from one week to the next,they even change the days our new starters work during the week depending on if anyone has gone sick ,wouldnt surprise me if new starters work most sundays ,in our office they are at the moment because they say they are short staffed and our so called UNION sit back and let all this happen,basically its 30 hours and you will do whatever they say.

[Valentina@1]

DW(cwu)..”we ain’t gonna sit back and let Royal Mail turn this great company into just another parcel courier”
A few months later….

[Jen1]

Thank for the replies another thing I have just noticed which concerns me in my contract which was not in the job description is the following

9.1 Subject to Clause 9.2 of this statement, your weekly hours of work will be 30.00 (excluding meal breaks). It is anticipated that Royal Mail will move to a Seasonal Hours ("SH") and / or Yearly Flexible Hours ("YFH") system at which point these terms and conditions will be varied and your annual hours of work will be 2080 (pro rata for part time excluding meal breaks). By signing this contract you are also agreeing to the change from weekly hours to a SH and/ or YFH working basis when that change is introduced. We will give you at least one months' notice of a change to Seasonal Hours and/ or Yearly Flexible Hours.

I think this basically means they can work you silly hours during busy periods and not pay you overtime for it and during quiet periods you could just be doing 4hrs a day or so.

Seasonal hours is not too bad for a part timer we’re on it now so basically you start 10mins earlier in winter (the busier period) but don’t get paid any extra

But then in summer you start 10mins later than your original start time but don’t lose any pay so it works out ok

For full timers it’s 24min instead of 10min

Yearly flexible hours I’ve not heard of that so probably something else to shaft us with

But yeah basically they want us to work our asses off in winter when it’s cold, dark and wet but don’t want to pay out any extra money for it

Also just to warn you only new starters are contracted to work on Sundays so it’s likely that you’ll be expected to work every Sunday

As for Saturdays I was told when I took the job (almost 5 years ago) that I’d get 1 in 4 Saturdays off… I’ve not had a Saturday off at all this year and when I tried to book one it got declined my friend just tried to book a Saturday off for next August and it got declined (school holidays were mentioned but as he’s supposed to have 1 in 6 Saturdays off it really shouldn’t be an excuse)

So just pre warning you that getting a weekend off is near impossible

[fb1969]

And when it comes to booking leave, today should be the cut off date for booking your leave from April 2024 to March 2025. Expect to be disappointed if there are any periods that you really want or need to be off.

[robnoonie]

Thanks for the advise. Was supposed to be doing my induction course tomorrow but decided against working for them. Can't believe they are advertising jobs that clearly state 0800hrs to 1400hrs working hours yet when you get a contract says 0600 to 2200. Also no way I'm doing every Sunday thought it would be once every month. Sunday working was going to be 27 miles away at Leicester distribution centre.

[guardianangel]

Thanks for the advise. Was supposed to be doing my induction course tomorrow but decided against working for them. Can't believe they are advertising jobs that clearly state 0800hrs to 1400hrs working hours yet when you get a contract says 0600 to 2200. Also no way I'm doing every Sunday thought it would be once every month. Sunday working was going to be 27 miles away at Leicester distribution centre.

A wise decision as you have realised in that revised contract Royal Mail lie through their teeth and the bosses spend more time trying to get you sacked than actually trying to work out why no one wants to work for them,im a few years off retirement and it cant come soon enough,the last 10 years of privatisation has been hell on earth,you will definitely be better off not working for them especially for your mental health ,good luck for the future and count your blessings you have had a narrow escape.

[Mrpmrp]

As a new starter ok Grinch, I won't be taking ur advice